Three Ponds

Date: 7 March 2009

Distance: 5 miles approx
Parking: New Forest Car Park - Janesmoor Plain
Map: Explorer OL22
Map ref for car park: SU246135

There is a big area to choose from for parking here. Wherever you choose to park take your starting point from the pond, facing south with the pond to your right. From here walk along the lawn following the line of the fence left until a T-junction. Cross the road and head west with the road to your left. The walking is excellent along gorse-studded lawns with Inclosures to your right. Keep straight on as much as you wish to until Cadman's Pool.

From the car park, go through the barrier at the back. Today, there was a grey tree trunk to step over. Walk down through the leave-strewn woodland being careful of hidden tree roots until a clear path running east to west is reached. Turn left and continue until the path comes to a fork with paths going to left and right. The paths become quite indistinct here in places. Keep going downhill until another clear path again running east to west and turn again left. Follow this path into trees where it is no longer clear and turn right to the river. Find a place to ford and cross.

A vague path runs up towards a small woodland. The path widens into a clear wide grass path which skirts the woodland, running between the trees on the left and holly bushes and gorse on the right. Keep along this path, which may be muddy in places, and continue uphill until you come out of the trees.

Look to your left for the panorama over Rakes Brakes Bottom. The path ahead forks, take the right fork. Keep following this clear, grass path up to Green Pond. From here, turn right and take the path that runs past two wells about 50 yards apart. Walk down into trees and keep along until you reach houses and a footpath sign.

Turn right along the driveway that goes down to more houses, then a barrier and out on to forest lawn again. Cross the footbridge ahead. From here choose to turn right and go up through the Inclosure or go straight ahead along a footpath, which is actually a cow track. The latter is churned underfoot at best in dry weather; after rain it will be a quagmire. However, this is the way I walked today. For an alternative route, please consult the map.

Follow the path along until it emerges again on Janesmoor Plain on the west side of the road. The path becomes concrete and follows a V-shape to the road.

Cross the road and the car park at Janesmoor Pond is immediately ahead.

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Busketts Lawn

Date: 7 March 2009

Distance: 5 1/4 miles
Parking: New Forest Car Park Busketts Lawn
Map: Explorer OL22 New Forest
Map ref for car park: SU312112

From the car park return to the barrier to the private road and turn along this. Where the gravel path turns towards the driveway of a house continue ahead on the indistinct path through the trees alongside the fence. Soon come to more houses and fence and turn right towards a gate.

Go right through the gate and continue along this path to its end at a road. This track can be muddy for the first 200 or so yards. There is a narrow footpath that winds through the trees to the left. Be aware of large pools that come close to this footpath. The footpath later comes out on to the main bridleway which becomes more passable at this point.

At the end of the path, turn left on to the road and continue until a sharp bend left. On the right side of the road is a path going off with a roadsign "Rossiters Lane". Go on to the path and then immediately left: this is Rossiters Lane. It can be very muddy with brambles but gets better further along beside a small stream on the right. Keep along until the road.

Turn right along the road and look for a wooden footpath sign on the right. Go over the stile and follow the path round. Today the path was clear but there is a warning in Norman Henderson's book "A Walk Around the New Forest" that this can become choked with nettles. A river runs parallel to the path after a while and the path itself narrows to pass around some paddocks and stables. There is no fence between the path and the river, so take care with children.

Over the stile at the other end and turn right on to the road. Take the second street turning on the left into a Close. On the left hand side near a scrubby copse is a footpath sign. Turn along this. Go over the stile on to a broad greenway and keep along this until the path ahead becomes tarmac and a dirt track goes right across a field. Just inside the hedge is a footpath sign pointing two ways, back the way you have come and along the field edge inside the fence. Continue along, over a stile and into a copse. A clear path winds through the copse alongside a river on the left. Be aware that this copse forms part of a grazing area for domestic horses and it opens out on to a tree-lined narrow field. This runs up to the next stile and the road.

Turn right along the road and continue along all the way down past farms and houses and woodland until Woodlands Road, which runs down from Bartley to Ashurst.

Cross here and straight through the gate on the other side of the road into Busketts Lawn Inclosure. Keep along the cycle track and at the T-junction with another cycle track turn right. Go over the footbridge. The ford is very deep on the further side.

Where the path divides, take the left path which continues in a straight line for some way. Ignore all paths to right and left and where another cycle track crosses ahead, continue straight over up to a gate. Through the gate do not turn immediately right to the lawn (although you can if you wish to as it goes straight up to the cricket ground and the car park), but follow an indistinct path through the trees ahead and a little right until a lawn is reached.

A stream skirts the trees to the left and another runs across the lawn across your path. Turn right here and follow the stream up to the cricket ground and round to the right here to a barrier and return to the car park.

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Shave Hat

Date: 28 February 2009

Distance: Approx. 2 - 3 miles
Parking: New Forest Car Park Shave Hat
Map: Explorer OL22
Map ref for car park: SU293122

Go straight out of the back of the car park and follow indistinct path leading up through trees northward. Keep ahead ignoring any paths to right or left until the stream is reached. This area can be boggy and other rivulets run across the path. Find the way across then keep heading north along a more clearly defined way. Shave Hat opens ahead, a lawn area ringed with trees.

Cross to the line of trees at the north end of Shave Hat and turn left with the trees on your right until a fenced area is reached. Turn right with the fence on your left and continue ahead on a wide grass path to a cross-paths on a slight rise. Turn left here through the gate.

Follow the well-laid out path ahead and round to the left. Continue straight ahead until the main path bends sharp right. There is a grass path leading away to the left at this corner up to a gate. Go through the gate and find the indistinct path around Clay Hill which comes down to the road opposite Hazel Hill car park.

Turn left along the road, which comes all the way back to Shave Wood car park. Along the road, there is a lawned area if you prefer to walk off the road for a little way; and just before the car park is reached a path leads off the road left across a glade.


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Whitefield Moor and Rhinefield

Date: 13 January 2009

Distance: 7 1/2 miles
Parking: New Forest Car Park Whitefield Moor (minimum suggested donation £2)
Map: Explorer OL22
Map ref for car park: SU274027

Good waterproof footwear may be required on parts of this walk as some areas may be muddy. There is a ford to negotiate, and some areas near rivers may be flooded.

Return to car park entrance and cross the road to a path straight ahead across the moor. At a cross path before the current path goes uphill, turn right (west) through gorse and continue down to Silver Stream. Cross the two footbridges and follow the path up Holm Hill to pass to the south of a copse. Continue along the same path round past a single tree on the right and a view across to White Moor and the outskirts of Brockenhurst in the east.

Turn right along a path that runs parallel to the one you have just come along, which then runs downhill. Ignore all paths to right and left. Cross the next stream via laid-down logs and continue up to the entrance to Ferny Knapp Inclosure. Turn right along a grassy track between trees and emerge to the east on a path running down south eastward to a bridge. Be aware that this area can become flooded although not deep and the ground underfoot is generally firm.

Cross the bridge and walkway and follow the path on the other side up into Clumber Inclosure. At the crossroads, turn left and go through a gate to pass Rhinefield House Hotel. At the top of the next rise, go through another gate and keep along the path next to the fence passing more buildings, and round to the right to emerge on to Rhinefield Ornamental Drive.

Turn left and walk along the roadside to Rhinefield Cottage. Turn left along the cycle track with the Cottage on the right. Before the gate and fence ahead follow the cycle track round to the right and cross the ford. This can be quite deep and fast running after heavy rain.

Continue up the cycle path ahead. Pass over the next crossroads, then turn right to follow a path between trees to Blackwater Arboretum. This is a lovely place to spend some time wandering around, especially in summer. There are seats and picnic tables here.

Exit the Arboretum by the east gate and walk down the path to cross the Drive. Pass through the car park, straight ahead on to a grass track down to a five-way crossroads. Take the cycle track leading south eastward. Pass a path coming down to the track from the right, then further on turn left along a clear grass track to a gate.

Cross the area inside the the gate to a bridge in the south east corner. Cross the bridge and continue along a grass track between gorse bushes out on to Fletchers Green. Cross the bridge ahead and immediately after the bridge, turn south towards Aldridge Hill Cottage. Pass the Cottage on to a gravel track leading into Aldridge Hill Inclosure and continue until the first clear path left which runs downhill to a bridge over Ober Water.

From here, you can choose to cross the bridge and continue uphill back to the car park, or turn left and follow the Walk round on a good gravel track. Cross the bridge at the far end and return along the track through the trees alongside the river until it comes back to the first bridge. Cross over to the north side of the river again and turn left to follow the path through tall conifers to Puttles Bridge Car Park. Swing off on to a path running to another bridge and cross over. From here follow the gravel track uphill and back to Whitefield Moor Car Park.


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Misty Sway and the Disused Railway

Date 30 December 2008

Distance: 6 miles
Parking: New Forest Car Park Longslade Bottom
Map: Explorer OL22
Map ref for car park: SU269002

This walk is taken from the October 2008 edition of Country Walking magazine with a slight adaptation regarding the start point. Please see the publication for further details.

For the route I took, there is a bridge beyond the car park. Head towards this and climb the path left of the bridge up on to the disused railway trackbed. Soon come to another bridge with an electricity substation to the left. Just before the bridge descend the path to the right and follow the trail across the heathland and as it curves up through another car park to a barrier and the road.

Cross the road and take the left of two paths heading across more heathland. The path passes diagonally across the heath and in the distance to the south is seen Sway Tower. Keep heading towards the Tower. Outlaying houses of the village begin to show to the right. Come to and cross over a live-railway bridge and follow a grass track to the right into the village.

Pass the Hare and Hounds pub on the left. At the bottom of the slope turn right by the car sales showroom into Church Lane. Follow the road up, past St Luke's Church to a T-junction. Turn right here and keep along this road, past the railway station and where the road forks further on, take the left fork which is Mead End Road.

Continue up Mead End Road and turn right into Adlams Lane. The road becomes a bridleway and slopes down to two gates, the second of which enters Set Thorns Inclosure. The route follows the cycle trail. Where the trail forks in the earlier stages keep to the left hand path, ignore all other paths to right and left. Pass one cleared area, at the next cleared area where the path splits to either side of the point, follow the right hand, and better surfaced, way. Coming round past rising ground and pine trees on the right, the path slopes downward towards a caravan park. Pass to the left of the caravan park and through a gate up into open heathland. Ahead is the elevated line of the disused railway. Follow the path round (it is quite rutted in places) with the line of the railway on your right. Pass in front of the bridge and soon the path rises to access the railway trackbed. Turn right to cross over the bridge. Follow the track past the caravan site and under two bridges, the first is a footbridge, the second carries a road.

Emerge from the trees and ahead is the bridge started out from. Just before the bridge, descend the path to the right and return to the car park.

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Deerleap and Fulliford Bog-hopping

Date: 17th December 2008

Distance: 4 1/4 miles
Parking: Deerleap Car Park
Map: Explorer OL22 New Forest
Map ref for car park: SU353095

It is possible to negotiate the boggy areas as they are mostly firm underfoot but some athleticism may be required to jump over the wetter and very boggy puddles. Good waterproof walking boots are adviseable. If you are not confident about jumping about in a bog, it may be better to choose a circular route through Deerleap Inclosure along the cycle tracks, marked with red dots on the map.

Park in the lower area of the car park and face south east to see the lawn. Walk out on to the lawn and turn left heading south west, either along the footpath along the lawn or choose the better surface of the cycle track. The avenue keeps straight on between Deerleap Inclosure on the right and Longdown Inlcosure on the left. Soon go down into a dip and over a wide footbridge. Follow the path (you will now be on the cycle track) uphill past a gate on your right and pass through trees to the railway bridge. Cross over the railway bridge and come down to the stream through Fulliford Bog. Cross over the bridge and take the right hand track at a fork not shown on the map.

Soon pass a large pond on the left. Matley Wood is ahead. Continue towards Matley Wood until a path goes off to the right. The first part of the path may well be under water and surrounded by bog, although the line of the path is clear about 100 yards beyond. There is firm footing to be found although you will need to jump over some of the deeper and muddier water-logged areas. Treat it as a bit of fun and soon gain the better footing of the path ahead.

The path forms a sort of small gully uphill and then flattens out. Ahead is a line of trees beneath which runs a stream with a footbridge across. The path leads down to the bridge past a tumulus and a little further on, a small earthwork marked out with bracken.

The ground immediately after the bridge tends to be muddy but it is possible to get around this. The lawn beyond is wet but firm underfoot and the line of the continuing path is clear. Coming back to the path it follows the line of the fencing surrounding the land belonging to Ashurst Lodge, although towards the end where the ground rises, it may be necessary to divert off the path to find a firmer footing. Keep along by the wooden fencing and follow the path round into trees.

Ahead is a low barrier and a tarmac drive. Cross the drive and continue down through trees on a good path which bears round to the left. White-painted fencing lines the path further on where the path rises to a bridge over the railway. The metalwork on the bridge is painted pale blue and makes a pretty and unexpected feature. The white fencing continues down the other side and then stops. Ahead the path turns right through a gate into Deerleap Inclosure and on to well-surfaced cycle track. With basic map-reading skills, you can choose your own path through the Inclosure, but I'd had enough of mud-hopping by this time and chose to follow the cycle track that runs parallel to the railway line. This track eventually rises to a gate out to the railway bridge end of the lawned avenue between Deerleap and Longdown Inclosures. Just before the exit, the cycle track turns sharply left back up into the Inclosure. Beyond the gate, turn left on to the cycle track which runs back across the wide footbridge and uphill along the lawn, leading back to the car park.


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Fritham to Godshill

Date: 25 November 2008

Distance: 8 1/3 miles
Parking: New Forest Fritham Car Park
Map: Explorer OL22 New Forest
Map ref for car park: SU231141

It is a good idea to plot the route on your map carefully before setting out for this walk as I found one or two of the paths indistinct or requiring a diversion due to saturation of the ground.

Walk back towards the entrance to the car park and turn left down the tarmac lane. In about 500 yards arrive at Iron Wells and the entrance to another car park. Walk up through the car park and past the barrier through trees. Leaving the trees find the indistinct path that goes uphill on pony-shaven lawns through heather and bracken after fording the stream that runs along the bottom of the rise. At the top of the hill is a wider path which forks, take the left hand fork and walk downhill from Homy Ridge to Claypits Bottom. Ford the stream and continue uphill towards the car park at Studley Head.

From the car park, take the wide track which skirts the western edge of the trees. Where another path goes off to the right, turn along this and follow it round to the right towards Leaden Hall, a wide shallow area of gravel, sand and grassed areas. Cross Leaden Hall and follow the wide grass track from the north west edge heading south west to Little Cockley Plain. At the T-junction turn right and continue along this track as it passes through groves of trees, goes down Cockley Hill and over the shallow bridge at the bottom to climb again the other side up to Ashley Walk car park at Godshill. If you wish, this is a good place to take a break.

As you face the road (Roger Penney Way) turn left and walk along Godshill Ridge until the cricket ground is reached. Bear left here and find the path running downhill again to Ditchend Bottom. Keep left wherever the path splits off and after fording another stream, enter Pitts Wood Inclosure from the north west, heading south east up a wide grass track. At the top of the track turn left on to a wide walk. Be careful in winter as the track is very muddy under the leaves that cover it. Where the path forks bear always to the right until the track becomes firm gravel and heads more steeply uphill to emerge on Hampton Ridge, merging with the cycle track. Turn left towards Amberwood Inclosure.

Keep along this cycle track, excellent underfoot in all weathers but does undulate quite a lot, and quite steeply in places, and will bring you back to Fritham car park.


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